Barminco refinances bond debt, signs $100m facility

Gresham Investment House-owned mining contractor Barminco has secured a $100 million credit facility and closed a $US350 million bond issue to refinance its bond debt, with the company then having it's credit rating upgraded to B by Standard & Poors.

Barminco said today the bond issue was priced at 6.6 per cent, down on a 9 per cent rate on the previous bonds, which were due to expire next year.

The bonds now have a term of five years, maturing in mid-2022.

“On the back of strong interest from the US and Asian institutions, the Barminco issue was more than three times oversubscribed,” it said.

“Swaps are in place to protect Barminco against currency fluctuations.”

Barminco also announced it had secured a new $100 million standby revolving credit facility, with chief executive Peter Stokes saying the financial moves put Barminco in place to pursue strong, profitable growth in the time ahead.

The bond issue was led by Goldman Sachs and co-managed by HSBC and SC Lowy, with Barminco advised by Gresham Debt Solutions.

This afternoon, S&P  shifted the company's rating up one notch from B- to B with a stable outlook.

S&P global ratings analyst Sam Heffernan said the refinancing had been a catalyst for the upgrade.

"The upgrade also reflects our view of Barminco's relatively stable profitability even during the recent downturn in the mining industry and through a period of challenging conditions for mining services companies," he said.